No Problame!

Swiss Temple schedule
week of September 4, 1989

The Swiss Temple served stakes and missions in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and Switzerland, and sometimes groups from northern Africa. The stakes and missions are assigned for a one-week period, one to five weeks a year. The members from Portugal had about a 24-hour bus ride to get to the temple. Pres. Ringger said most of them spent about ¼ of their annual salary to spend a week at the temple. Most people who came either had their own temple work to do, or had previously sent in the family group sheets for temple work for their relatives, so there was a lot of paper work to do, and we had to help them see that they got the work done for their kin.

Brother and Sister Portalano
Responsible for the hostel

The Church owns a hostel across the street from the temple, next to the forest. It could handle about 200 people, with six bunks in a room for the women, and six bunks in a room for the men. Honeymooners are not too happy with this arrangement! Downstairs in the hostel is a large kitchen with several stoves, refrigerators, sinks and tables where families would cook and eat part or all of their meals. They often brought some of their food with them, and would go to the local stores for milk, etc.

On a clear day we could see the Alps from the steps of the temple.

The patrons would arrive by bus and cars, with a few coming in motor homes and trailers, arriving usually on Monday evening or early Tuesday morning. If a large group arrived, we would open up the temple on Monday evening and encode their recommends, rent their clothing [white clothing worn in the temple] and assign them lockers. This would make things a lot smoother on Tuesday morning. At 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the patrons would be standing at the front entrance to the temple waiting for it to open. They would be visiting and admiring the view of the Alps from the steps of the temple.

Mr & Mrs. Juan Rodriguez - Louis & Leona Butler
temple workers from Seville, Spain

Brother Mongiovi - a tailor
Temple worker from Italy who came to the Swiss temple very often

Meanwhile, prayer meeting would start at 6:30 a.m. in the temple chapel, with the temple missionaries and temple workers from the stake/mission in attendance. President Louis Ringger would preside and conduct this meeting, and since he spoke German and also English, French and Italian, he would give greetings and instructions in four languages. If there were Spanish or Portuguese, we usually had another interpreter or two. When we sang, we had books in many languages and we would pick up our songbook in our language as we entered the prayer meeting. Every hymn was sung in the 4-6 languages!

After observing this for several weeks, I wrote this:

NO PROBLAME

Communication is sometimes difficult
When different languages we speak;
But there is always one ready answer
After using hands, head, body and feet.
NO PROBLAME!
They had traveled for 24 hours
On a hot, stuffy old bus.
The hostel was noisy, and the beds were strange.
The youth wanted to stay up all night.
But at 6:45 they are waiting at the door
to come into the house of the Lord.
All year they have waited and yearned to return,
And now, with recommends in hand
they visit and chat and look at the Alps
as the temple workers prepare for the day.
As the temple doors open, they proudly present
their recommends to the Temple President.
All clothed in white and ready to serve,
They respond to the workers’ every request,
NO PROBLAME!
May we all learn to say to the Lord,
NO PROBLAME!